Letter operated printing device



March 11, 1941, L A. THATCHERV 2,234,583

LETTER OPERATED PRINTING DEVICE Original Fil ed Dec. 2, 1937 6Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY March 11, 19-41. I g A c g 2,234,583

LETTER OPERATED PRINTING DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 2, 1937S-Sheets-Sheei 2 i INVENTOR I Z? I BY Q's/7 lma/c662 ATTORNEY March 11,1941'. L A. THATCHER 2,234,583

LETTER OPERATED PRINTING DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 2,. 1937 6Sheets-Sheet 5 INV NTOR ATTOR N EY March 11, 1941. L. A. THATCHER LETTEROPERATED PRINTING DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 2, 1937.

6 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY March 11, 1941. 1.. A. THATCHER LETTEROPERATED PRINTING DEVICE 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed Dec. 2, 1937ATTORNEY March 11-, 1941. T A H R 2,234,583

LETTER OPERATED PRINTING DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 2, 1937 6Sheets-Sheet 6 Y I VENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 11, 1941 LETTER OPERATED PRINTING DEVIC'E Linden A. Thatcher, Stamford, Conn., assignor t0Pitney-Bowes Postage Meter Company, Stamford, Conn., a corporationofDelaware Original application December 2, 1937, Serial No. 177,671.Divided and this application July 11, 1939, Serial No. 283,766

7 Claims.

This invention relates to a postage printing and mailing machine andmore particularly to a machine of the coin operated type which isadapted to print a value postage stamp impression upon letters which areinserted therein, then automatically deposit the letters in a mailreceiving receptacle which is concealed within a casing enclosing themachine.

The present invention is more specifically related to devices forconveying a letter to a printing position after it has been inserted inthe machine, and to devices which control the position of the letter atthe time of tripping to effect the printing of the postage stampimpression in proper relation to the leading edge of the letter.Further, the subject matter of this case is a division of a parentapplication Serial No. 177,671, new Patent No. 2,170,270, dated August22, 1939.

It is one object of the invention to provide means for conveying aletter to a printing position after the said letter has been inserted inthe machine, and to continue the movement of the letter to deposit samewithin a mail receptacle.

It is another object to provide a tripping means which is actuated bythe act of inserting a letter in the machine and which is operable onlywhen the letter is in a correct position for printing.

It i a further object to provide means whereby said conveyor parts maybe spaced vertically apart to permit the insertion of the letter to atripping position.

It is a further object to provide means whereby the conveyor is adaptedto be returned to its conveying position after the act of tripping iseffected.

It is a further object to provide manipulative means whereby devicesassociated with the printing and conveyor drive are adapted to bepre-set before a trip-ping operation is eifected.

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that various changes in theprecise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made withinthe scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein- Fig. 1 is a perspective View lookingtoward the outside of the machine casing and showing the letterreceiving receptacle in dot and dash lines in an open or lettercollecting position;

Fig. 2 is a plan view with part in section and part broken away, showingthe printing unit and conveyor mechanism, also a part of the drivecontrolling means;

Fig. 3 is a front view of in Fig. 2 taken in the di the printing unitshown rection of the arrow 3,

parts being shown in section and parts broken away, and furtherincluding a letter tripping device;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view through the printing unit takenalong the line 4-4 of Fig. 3 and showing the printing drum conveyormechanism and printing device in its normal home position;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary the parts shown in Fig. mechanism shown in adetail view of certain of 4, with the conveyor spaced apart position anda letter being inserted into the machine to a position where thetripping of the machine is about to be efiected;

Fig. 6 is a view taken on substantially the same plane as Fig. 5 andfurther shows manipulative means for pre-setting a latching mechanismand setting the conveyor in a prior to inserting a letter letterreceiving position in the machine;

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 1-1 of Fig. 2,showing the drive connection to the printing unit;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentarydetail view partly in section, taken along theline 8-8 and showing an electrical switch controlled mechanism;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary detail view partly in section, taken along theshowing part of the trip and conveyor drive; and

line 99 of Fig. 2' and con-trolling mechanism Fig. 10 is a fragmentarydetail view looking in the direction of the arrow Referring to Fig.1, it

In of Fig. 7. will be seen that the a platform Hi, a portion 16aof'which is used to support a letter before inserting same within themachine. mounted within the lower A letter receiving receptacle I1 isportion of the machine casing and may be hinged as shown at l8 to permitsame to be swung forward by an authorized mail collector for thecollection of mail deposited therein. A printing drum I9 is e rrcasedwithin a closure 2!, which closure is removably mounted Within themachine and is normally supported upon a suitable frame 22. The printingdrum is mounted upon a shaft 23 carried by one wall 24 and another wall25 of the closure 2!. An indicia die plate 26 bearing the usualpostmark, date and value stamp is mounted on the drum as indicated in 2.Flanges 2i, having serrated edges, are provided at the ends of the drumf9 and cooperate with conveyor belts 3'! and an impression roller 28,Fig. 4, in feeding a letter during a printing cycle of operation, andfurther to continue the feed of the letter after printing for the finaldeposit of said letter in the receptacle ll. As shown in Fig. 4, theletter will be guided to along the guide wall 28 to the receptacle t7.

Associated with the printing drum is a conveyor mechanism which isadapted to convey a letter to the printing drum, after the letter hasbeen inserted in the machine through a letter slot 3! provided in thefront wall of the machine casing. Said conveyor mechanism preferablycomprises means for driving the letter by contact with both the upperand the lower surfaces. The upper drive comprises two drive rollers3233, the said roller 32 being suitably supported on a stud 34 supportedin the closure wall at, and the roller 33 being mounted on a shaft 35which is carried by the wall 25 and a wall 3?; of the closure 2l. Thelower portion of the conveyor comprises a pair of belts 3'l'3l which aresupported on forwardly disposed pulleys 3838 and rearwardly disposedpulleys 3939. The rearward pulleys 3939 are fixed to a shaft 4| whichshaft also supports the impression roller 23.

In order that the impression roller 28 may yield to accommodate mail ofvarious thickness, the said shaft M is supported on a floating bearingstructure which comprises arms 4242 hav ing one end thereof pivotallymounted upon studs 4343 in the walls 2 3 and 25 respectively of theclosure 2i. The opposite ends of said arms 12- 52 engage a rod 64, whichrod is supported in a yieldable bearing 45, Fig. 4. Said yieldablebearing comprises a cap portion which fits over the upper end of a coilspring 45, which spring is seated in a bracket 3! secured to the base 48of the closure 2 I.

Grooved rollers 49-49 mounted at either end of the impression rollershaft M are supported within pockets I- 5l of said arms 42-42. A letterupon passing between the printing drum and impression roller willtherefore depress the impression roller mounting A5 and tit inproportion to the thickness of the said letter.

The forward belt supporting pulleys 38-38 are mounted on the free endsof arms fill-52, of levers 5 3-5o which levers are pivotally mountedupon studs 53-53, carried by the walls 24 and 25 of the closure 25. Eachof said levers 5B5ll has an arm 54 projecting downwardly therefrom whichlatter arms are normally urged in a forwardly direction by means ofspring actuated pressure devices 5555, Fig. 4. Said pressure devices 55each comprise a rod 55 which has a clevis end thereof 51 connected withthe lower end of the arm 54 and the opposite end is slidably mounted inbearings 5858. A compression spring 59 provides the necessary pressureto'maintain the conveyor belt associated therewith in a conveyingposition.

Means is also provided to rock the forward portions of. the conveyorbelts away from the rollers 32, 33 for the purpose of permitting theleading end of a letter to be inserted between said belts and rollerswhen it is passed into the letter slot 3|. Said means comprises arms 5l-BI which are fixed to a shaft 62, supported within the walls 24 and25, which arms have fixed to their forward end, rollers 6363. Saidrollers E353 are adapted to engage cam surfaces 64-64 provided on eachof the downwardly disposed arms Ed5fi. Also fixed on the shaft 62 is arocker lever which has one arm 65 projecting upwardly therefrom and asidewardly projecting arm 66. Said lever Til is adapted to be rockedmanually in one direction as shown in Fig. 6 to cause the rollers 63-63to ride downward over the cam portions 64-454 of the arms 5454 tothereby rock said arms 54-5 l and cause the forward ends of the conveyorbelts 3'l3'l to be moved downwardly.

The rocking of said rocker lever 64 is effected by means of a manuallyoperated hand lever Bl, Fig. 6. Said lever 67 is pivotally supportedupon a stud 58 secured within a supporting wall 69. Cooperating withsaid hand lever 61 is another lever 11 which is pivotally mounted upon astud 12 in the wall 69, which lever has an upwardly extending portionsecured to a plunger rod 13. Said plunger rod 13 is slidably mountedwithin a hearing hi and is normally positioned as shown in Fig. 4. Whenthe lever 61 is moved from the dot and dash line position of Fig. 8 tothe full line position, the lever l! is rocked. in a counter-clockwisedirection to effect movement of the plunger 13 forwardly into engagementwith the arm 65 of lever l'i'! therebycausing the shaft 62 to be rockedin a counter-clockwise direction and consequently causing the rollersGit-63 on levers Si-Sl to ride over the cam portions 6-4 64 of arms56-54. Said latter action will cause the conveyor belt supporting arms52-52 to be rocked downwardly to the position of Fig. 5.

Associated with said manual setting lever 61 is a latching structurewhich comprises a latch lever l5, fixed on a rocker shaft it, said shaftbeing supported within the frame structure 22. The shaft (6 is adaptedto be rocked by means of the hand lever 61 through the connection ofalever l! on said shaft 16 with the downwardly projecting end "18 of thelever structure 61, said connection being made by means of a link 19.

A latch hook lever 8i and a safety latch 32 are freely mounted on ashaft 83 which shaft is carried by the frame structure 22. Said latchmembers 8! and 82 are normally urged toward the latch lever by means ofsprings 84 and 85 respectively. Upon pulling the hand lever 61 to thefull line position of Fig. 6, the latch lever T5 is rocked downward to alatch engaging position with relation to the latch hook 8i and safetylatch 82, as shown in Fig. 6. The safety latch lever 82 has a tailportion 86 which is linked to a tail portion 8'! of the lever H, bymeans of a link 88, so that it may be positively moved into latchedrelation with the latch lever '15, Upon the return of the handle 61' toits dot and dash or normal position, the said safety latch isdisengaged. The return of said hand lever 51 is effected by means of acompression spring 89 around the plunger pin 1'3.

At the time of setting orengaging the latch lever 15 with latch members8I82. by means of the hand lever 51, a switch control latching device isalso set in a latched position. Said switch control latching devicecomprises a lever SI on the shaft it, which lever is connected withanother lever 92 on a shaft 93 by means of a link lil. The shaft 93 issupported within walls tit -950i a frame structure 95, Fig. 2. The linkengagement with a pinion I45 'on conveyor roller 32, the said roller32-is driven. By an indirect connection through shaft I46, whichsupports the pinion I43 and which extends to the wall25 of the closure2|, a drive is provided through a pinion I41 on shaft I46 to a pinionI48 on the shaft 35 which supports the conveyor drive ward conveyor beltpulleys 39-39 are fixed to the shaft 4| and are therefore rotated withthe impression roller. It is thus evident from the above that, uponrotation of the printing drum,

both the conveyor drive rollers 32, 33 and the conveyor belts aredriven.

It will be noted in Fig. 4, that the letter slot 3I is normallyobstructed by a shutter I56. Said shutter is released to permit theinsertion of the letter after the hand lever 61 is manipulated, therebeing a connection with said hand lever control which is fully describedin the parent .0359.

In the operation of this device, the mechanism is pre-set by pullingthe'handle 61 forward from the dot and dash line position to the fullline position as shown in Fig. 6. This operation effects the setting ofseveral devices as follows:

1. The forward end of the conveyor belts are lowered by the action ofthe rollers 63-63 over the cammed end-s 64-64, of lever arms 54-54, whenthe plunger 13 engages the upwardly disposed end I55 of lever .10, asshown in Fig. 6;

2'. The latch member 8| is engaged with the latch lever 15 when the said.lever is rocked through the link connection 19 with lever arm 18;

3. The switch trip-ping latch members 08 and If are set in a latchedposition;

4. The shaft 16 is spring loaded by the action of spring I 09.

Having thus pre-set the machine, a letter is inserted through the slot3| and moved inward to cause the leading end. thereof to engage tripfingers I25-I25 and thereby rotate the trip or trigger unit about itspivot until the backs of said fingers I25-I2'5 engage a stop I33. Theengagement with the stop I33 limits the inward movement of the letter bythe operator momentarily and thus locates same properly with respect tothe conveyor drive mechanism to provide for the proper placement of astamped impression thereon when the drive orfeed of said letter iseffected. The movement of said trigger member also causes the lower endof the rod I21 to engage plate I32 of latch member 8I to release saidlatch member from engagement with the latch lever 15.

The release of the latch member 8I effects the operation of thefollowing mechanism:

1. Shaft 16 is rocked in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed fromFig. 6, under the impulse of the spring I09;

2. Latch lever 15 is rotated with said shaft 1g6-t-o cause the free endthereof to engage with the end 60 of lever 10 to -thereby rotate saidlever 10 and shaft 62 in a clockwise direction. Said rotation of shaft62causes the cam rollers 63-63 to pass upwardly over the cam ends 64-64 ofarm's-5'4-54 to lpermit the return of the conveyor belts to'a conveyingposition'under the influence of spring pressed rods 56-56;

3. The rotation of said shaft 16 also effects movement of the :lever -9Iwhich pulls the link 91 in a downw'a'rdly'dir'ection to, rock lever IOIand shaft 93 in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed from Fig. 6;

4. Rotation of the shaft 93 of lever I01, lug I68 of theswitch mo-untingI03 to rock same about its pivot I04 in a clockwise direction as viewedin Fig. 8 to cause anelectrical contact to be made to the motor drive; Y

5. The motor drive directly effects the rotation of the drive unitorworm I05 and worm wheel I06 to rotate the drive shaft I I4, Fig. '1;

-6. Rotation of the drive shaft II4 controls the drive of shaft 1 I5 tofinally effect the rotation of the printing drum through the Genevadrive II6-II1, Fig. 4;

7. The rotation of the printin drum effects the drive of the-upperconveyor rollers 32 and 33 and the drive of the conveyor belts 31-31;

8. 'By thetime the drive of said conveyor rollers and belts areeffected, fingers 'I25-I25 of the trigger unit will have been removedfrom the path of the letter by means of the cam I4I, leveri30andconnection138 to lever I31 which rocks the shaft I 3 I and yokesupporting lever I23.

The letter is then fed into the machine; whereupon it is picked up bythe printing and impression members l9 "and 28 respectively to receivethe printed postage stamp impression thereon and is finally guided alongchute 29 into the maildepositing receptacle I 1. The rotation of theprinting drum is limited to one revolution under control of the Genevadrive II6-I I1, and the shaft H5 is limited .to the rotation of onerevolution under control of the clutch mechanisml22. Details of theclutch member control will b-e found in the parent case.

Having described the invention what is claimed is:

effects the rocking Fig. 8, which in turn engages the- 1. In a postageprinting and mailing machine,

below the path of the letter, a drive for said printing device andconveyor means, a trip operable uponengagement of a letter therewith toeffect the operation of said drive upon inserting a letter into themachine, means to move one conveyor means away from the other conveyor,means to permit the insertion of a letter to a tripping position, andmeans associated with the trip to return said conveyor to a letterengaging and driving position. I

2. In a postage printing and mailing machine, a printing device, acasing enclosing said printing device and having an opening for thereception of letters, conveyor means arranged above and below the pathof the letter, a drive for said printing device and conveyor means, atrip operable upon engagement of a letter therewith to, effect theoperation of said drive upon inserting a letter into the machine, saidtrip including a member projecting into the path of the leading end of aletter, a stop to limit the movement of said projecting member tothereby accurately position the letter for the placing of a stampimpression thereon, and means operated by the drive to remove theprojecting member from the path of the letter after reaching said stopposition.

91 also has pivotally mounted-at the upper end thereof a latch lever 98,which is adapted to be normally urged to move about its pivot in acounter-clockwise direction, as viewed from Fig. 6, and is adapted to bemoved into latched en- .gagement with a toe portion 99 of a lever IOIfixed to the shaft 93. It will be seen therefore that the rocking of theshaft 16 to move the latched lever 15 to a latching position, will alsoeffect movement of latch lever 98 and lever IOI to a latched position.

Referring to Fig. 8, a mercury switch I02 is shown which is carried by abracket I03, pivotally mounted at I04 on the wall 94 of the framestructure 96 The said mercury switch I02 is electrically connected witha motor drive (not shown) and when moved to a contact position willeffect the operation of a power drive unit, indicated in Fig. '1, by theworm I05 and worm wheel I06. Said mercury switch I02 may be moved to'acontact position by means of a lever I01, fixed to the shaft 93, whensaid shaft is rocked during the tripping operation of the machine. Thetripping operation will effect the release of latch member 8| from itshooked engagement with the latch lever 15, which will eifect the rockingof the rocker shaft 16 and consequently rock the shaft 93, through thecontrolling link 91, also latch parts 99 and IN. Upon rocking said shaft93, the lever I01, Fig. 8, will engage a lug I08 on the switch mountingbracket I03 to cause said bracket and switch to be rocked about thepivot I04 and move the switch to a contact position. Resetting of theswitch to a non-contact position is effected at the end of each cycle ofoperation.

The power to effect the rocking movement of the shaft 16 is provided bymeans of a spring I09, Fig. 6, which is stretched between an anchor pinIII on wall 69 and a lever II2, said lever II2 being fixed to the rockershaft 16. A dash pot II3 may be provided to ease the action of thespring I09.

The drive of the printing drum I9 is effected through the worm wheel I06which drives the shaft II4 carried by the walls 94-95 of the frame 96,said shaft being coupled at I00 with a secondary drive shaft I I5,supported between the walls 24 and 25 of the closure 2|. By means of aGeneva or mutilated gear II6, Fig. 4, on said shaft II5, which gear isassociated with a gear II1 on the drum shaft 23, the said printing drumI9 is rotated. The said Geneva drive is provided to permit certainoperations to be performed before and after a printing cycle ofoperation is effected. But, as these operations have no bearing upon thefeatures in this divisional case, no further description is deemednecessary.

The same reasoning as above may be applied to the operation of the drivemechanism the features of which form no important part of the structurepertaining to this case. Any detail description may be obtained byreference to the parent case.

The drive normally is controlled through a clutch mechanism indicatedgenerally at II8, which cooperates with a coin controlled value typesetting structure (not shown) and includes a time control unit throughgears H9 and trip lever I2I, Fig, 10, which control the operation of asecond clutch device indicated at I22. The operation of said secondclutch device directly controls the rotation of the shaft II5 whichdrives the Geneva gear II6.

' "'Beforedrive of the machine may be effected,

the latch BI is trippedby the engagement of the leading end ofa letter Lwith a tripping device ortrigger unit, when the said letter is insertedin the letter slot 3|. As best shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, the saidtripping device or trigger unit comprises two trip fingers I25I25 whichare mounted on opposite ends of a horizontally disposed bar I26. Acentral vertically disposed rod I21 is secured to the bar I26 by meansof a yoke bracket I28 to thus form a T- shaped structure, said yokebracket being pivotally mounted within a forked end of a lever I29,which lever is fixed to a shaft I3I. The yoke bracket I28 comprises astructure resembling an inverted cross with a vertically disposedportion arranged to form a swivel for the vertical rod I21, horizontalbar I26 and fingers I25--I25. Said yoke bracket further has ahorizontally disposed portion arranged to provide a pivot about whichthe rod I21 may swing through a vertical path. This arrangement providesfor a universal movement about a vertical and a horizontal axis. Thepurpose of movement about the vertical axis is to prevent a trippingoperation from being effected unless both fingers I25-I25 are squarelyengaged by the letter when it is inserted in the machine. This willinsure the correct feed of a letter for the correct placement of a stampimpression on the face of the letter. The lower end of the rod I21projects directly in the path of a sidewardly disposed blade portion I32on the latch member BI, and when a letter is inserted through the letterslot 3I into engagement with the fingers I25, as shown in Fig. 5, therod I21 will engage the blade I32 to rock the latch member 8| about theshaft 83, Fig. 6,

and thereby remove same from engagement with the latch lever 15. Thefingers I25I25 will be continued in their movement rearward until theyengage a stop I33, whereupon the letter will be stopped momentarily.

Immediately upon the release of the latch lever 15 said lever is rockedupwardly under the influence of spring I09 and. the outer end thereofengages with the arm 66 of lever 64. This will cause the shaft 62 to berocked and consequently rock the roller 63 past the cam. portions 64-64of arms 54-54 which support the forward ends of the conveyor belts. Suchaction will effect the return of the belts to their normal drivingposition in driving relation with the letter.

Upon reaching the stop position, the said fingers I25I2'5 areimmediately withdrawn to permit the feed of the letter to a printingposition. Withdrawal is efiected in the manner best shown in Fig. 9 bymeans of a cam controlled structure which comprises a rocker lever I34,pivotally mounted upon a stud I35, which lever carries a roller I36 atone end and has its opposite end connected with a lever I31 by means ofa link I38. Said lever I31 is fixed to the shaft I3I which supports theyoke supporting lever I29. A cam MI is fixed to the secondary driveshaft H5 and has a cam portion which is adapted to engage the roller I36to rock said lever I34 and consequently effect the rocking of the yokesupporting lever I29 and cause the withdrawal of the fingers I25-I25from the path of the letter.

When the printing drum I9 is driven, a gear I 43 fixed thereon, Fig. 4,will rotate therewith and drive an intermediate pinion I44. Saidintermediate pinion I44 is the driving element of the entire conveyordevice. l3y direct meshed 3. In a postage printing and mailing machine,a printing device, a casing enclosing said printing device and having anopening for the reception of letters, conveyor means arranged above andbelow the path of the letter, a drive for said printing device andconveyor means, a trip operable upon engagement of a letter therewith toeffect the operation of said drive upon inserting a letter into themachine, a latch structure associated with said drive and trip,manipulative means connected with said latch to efiect the setting ofthe trip in' a latched position, devices connected with saidmanipulative means to move one conveyor means relative to the otherconveyor means and thereby permit the insertion of a letter to atripping position, and means associated with the trip to effect therelease of the latch and consequently effect the return of said conveyorto a letter engaging and driving position.

4. In a postage printing and mailing machine, a printing device, acasing enclosing said printing device and having an opening for thereception of letters, conveyor means comprising rollers and belt membersrespectively arranged above and below the path of the letter, a drivefor said printing device and conveyor, a trip to efiect the operation ofsaid drive upon inserting a letter into the machine, means to rock theforward end of the belt portion of the conveyor downward to permit theinsertion of a letter to a tripping position, and means associated withthe trip to return said belt conveyor portion to a letter engaging anddriving position.

5. In a postage printing and mailing machine, the combination with acasing having a letter slot to insert a letter therein and furtherhaving concealed therein a rotary stamp printing unit and a mailreceiving unit; of conveyor mechanism within the casing and adjacent theslot to convey a letter to a printing position when inserted into theletter slot, a drive for said printing unit and conveyor mechanism,letter stop means, drive actuating trip means arranged for engagement bythe letter before the letter reaches a stop position, and meanscontrolled by said drive to remove said letter stop means before theconveyance of the letter to the printing device.

6. In a postage printing and mailing machine, the combination with acasing having a letter slot therein and further having concealed thereina rotary stamp printing unit and a mail receiving unit; of conveyormechanism within the casing and adjacent the slot to convey a letter toa printing position when inserted into the letter slot, said conveyormechanism including upper and lower driven members arranged toyieldingly grip and convey the letter between them, manipulative meansincluding connections to said conveyor whereby the upper and lower partsthereof become relatively spaced to permit the insertion of a lettertherebetween, a drive for said printing unit and conveyor mechanism,means connected with the drive to normally prevent the actuationthereof, a tripping device connected with said 20 latter means andhaving a portion thereof positioned in the path of a letter forengagement by the letter upon inserting same into the letter slot,whereby upon tripping said tripping device the conveyor closes to engagethe letter and the drive of the printing unit and conveyor is efifected.

7. In a postage printing and mailing machine, a printing device, acasing enclosing said printing device and having an opening for thereception of letters, a letter receiving receptacle within the casing,conveyor means arranged above and below the path of the letter in aspaced apart relation, a drive for said printing device and conveyor, atrip to effect the operation of said drive upon inserting a letter intothe machine, stop means associated with said trip to limit the initialmovement of the letter and normally position the leading end of theletter within the driving range of the conveyor, and means controlled-bythe trip to move said conveyor into driving relation with the letterafter reaching said stop position to thereby draw the letter into themachine and convey same to a printing position.

LINDEN A. THATCHER.

